The present invention relates to an improved side weld plate for allowing adjacent concrete slabs to be welded to one another.
Prestressed concrete slabs are widely used throughout the building industry. They are typically used in flooring and roofing applications. The slabs are generally rectangular in shape and are placed side-by-side, edge-to-edge when used in flooring and roofing applications to form a continuous concrete planar surface.
Fixing of the slabs in place is normally accomplished by welding together side weld plates, which extend along the edges of the slabs. The welding together of the side weld plates of adjacent slabs allows the slabs to provide a very strong flooring or roofing structure.
Typically, a side weld plate assembly includes a side weld plate which is attached to rods, or reinforcement bars. The rods of the plate are embedded in a concrete slab when the slab is cast, extending substantially parallel to the planar surface of the slab in which they are embedded. The weld plate to which the rods are secured is located at an edge of the slab, where the plate is exposed for attachment by welding or some other suitable means to an adjacent weld plate, a metal bar received between the weld plates or the like. Because the weld characteristics, strength characteristics, and general quality characteristics of the rods or bars vary significantly from shipment to shipment, problems arise in establishing a consistent procedure for providing the concrete slabs with uniform side weld plate assemblies.
Another problem exists with the typical side weld plate assembly, in that, the ability of the joined slabs to withstand vertical loads depends significantly on the quality of the reinforcing rods or bars or the weldment at the bar-plate junction. Still another problem exists with the typical side weld plate assembly in that the side weld plate, when connected to the ends of the rods or bars, can become misaligned and actually project above the planar surface of the concrete slab, thereby possibly damaging roofing or flooring material later installed on the slab, decreasing slab strength, or the like.
Various types of side plate assemblies have been patented. U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,954, granted to Ehlenbeck, discloses an integral side weld plate assembly for embedment into a concrete slab having a central portion adjacent the side weld plate which remains exposed after the side weld plate has been welded. U.S. Pat. No. 2,462,415, granted to Nagel, discloses a side weld assembly having a peripheral portion formed from sheet metal with channels extending to a slab. The channels are adapted to receive reinforcing bars.